A Likely Story: "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker

In this short story, an African American woman in the South reflects on history, heritage, and family.

Here is a link to our lists for The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. homely
    lacking in physical beauty or proportion
    Maggie will be nervous until after her sister goes: she will stand hopelessly in corners, homely and ashamed of the burn scars down her arms and legs, eying her sister with a mixture of envy and awe.
  2. confront
    be face to face with
    You've no doubt seen those TV shows where the child who has "made it" is confronted, as a surprise, by her own mother and father, tottering in weakly from backstage.
  3. totter
    move without being stable, as if threatening to fall
    You've no doubt seen those TV shows where the child who has "made it" is confronted, as a surprise, by her own mother and father, tottering in weakly from backstage.
  4. mercilessly
    without pity
    I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man.
  5. glisten
    be shiny, as if wet
    My hair glistens in the hot bright lights.
  6. witty
    demonstrating striking cleverness and humor
    Johnny Carson has much to do to keep up with my quick and witty tongue.
  7. envelop
    enclose or enfold completely with or as if with a covering
    "How do I look, Mama?" Maggie says, showing just enough of her thin body enveloped in pink skirt and red blouse for me to know she's there, almost hidden by the door.
  8. sidle
    move sideways
    Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, sidle up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him?
  9. dingy
    thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot
    I see her standing off under the sweet gum tree she used to dig gum out of; a look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of the house fall in toward the red hot brick chimney.
  10. pity
    the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others
    She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice.
  11. earnest
    characterized by a firm, sincere belief in one's opinions
    She will marry John Thomas (who has mossy teeth in an earnest face) and then I'll be free to sit here and I guess just sing church songs to myself.
  12. soothing
    freeing from fear and anxiety
    Cows are soothing and slow and don't bother you, unless you try to milk them the wrong way.
  13. furtive
    secret and sly
    Furtive boys in pink shirts hanging about on washday after school.
  14. scald
    subject to harsh criticism
    Impressed with her they worshiped the well-turned phrase, the cute shape, the scalding humor that erupted like bubbles in Iye.
  15. lye
    a strong solution of sodium or potassium hydroxide
    Impressed with her they worshiped the well-turned phrase, the cute shape, the scalding humor that erupted like bubbles in Iye.
  16. stout
    fairly large
    Since I am stout it takes something of a push.
  17. cower
    show submission or fear
    She stoops down quickly and lines up picture after picture of me sitting there in front of the house with Maggie cowering behind me.
  18. oppress
    come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority
    "I couldn't bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me."
  19. ream
    squeeze the juice out (of a fruit)
    "I know it might sound awkward at first," said Wangero.
    "I'll get used to it," I said. "Ream it out again."
  20. doctrine
    a belief accepted as authoritative by some group or school
    "I accept some of their doctrines, but farming and raising cattle is not my style."
  21. whittle
    cut small bits or pare shavings from
    "Didn't Uncle Buddy whittle it out of a tree you all used to have?"
  22. alcove
    a small recess opening off a large room or garden
    "I can use the chute top as a centerpiece for the alcove table," she said, sliding a plate over the chute, "and I'll think of something artistic to do with the dasher."
  23. rifle
    go through in search of something
    After dinner Dee (Wangero) went to the trunk at the foot of my bed and started rifling through it.
  24. reckon
    expect, believe, or suppose
    "She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use."
    "I reckon she would," I said.
  25. heritage
    practices that are handed down from the past by tradition
    "Your heritage," she said, And then she turned to Maggie, kissed her, and said, "You ought to try to make something of yourself, too, Maggie. It's really a new day for us. But from the way you and Mama still live you'd never know it."
    What Dee doesn't understand is that Maggie is a living part of their heritage, since Maggie can remember Grandma Dee without the quilts because Grandma Dee had taught her how to quilt. Dee discards her birth name (which was also her aunt and grandma's name) for the more fashionable African-sounding Wangero, yet she wants to connect to her heritage by claiming and displaying handmade things from her family.
Created on Mon Apr 08 13:32:44 EDT 2013 (updated Thu Jan 10 12:57:46 EST 2019)

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